Left of the Dial

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

First of all, I have to give credit to icoulddietomorrow which is a great blog that has given me a lot of inspiration for this show. And by inspiration I mean I've learned about a lot of amazing records and basically ripped off everything they think is cool. There are some things they post that I already know and love and some are new to me and become favorites (i.e. Timber). So head over there because they post tons of stuff that I don't play because it's not quite LotD format but it's still great.

So this week I played Foreign Objects which is something I learned about over at icoulddietomorrow and they have a download link for the demo tape. Foreign Objects also have a brand new 7" out which you can get with the info posted here.

This AC4 record is something I've been looking forward to for a while now and I guess it's finally out. Their myspace says its out in Sweden and Deranged is putting out a US LP version but I can't seem to figure out when. I was able to download it from some random website and the whole thing is pretty awesome. Some of it sounds like fast The (International) Noise Conspiracy and some sounds like more straight up old school hardcore. The video above has three songs performed in Dennis' backyard, and I'm not really sure what he's wearing, but I guess that's what's up in Scandinavia.

Pygmy Shrews this Wednesday 11/18 at Lunchbox in Charlotte

Also this week at Boone Saloon: Saturday 11/21 Naked Gods (Boone's best band), Viva Viva, and The Middlemen

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

I kicked the show off this week with my favorite Ramones song, and it's not even one from their debut or Rocket to Russia, it's from 1980's End of the Century, arguably the last great LP. As hard as it would be to cover the Ramones' best track and still be awesome, KISS pulled it off. Of all bands, KISS. Kudos.

The Brass have a new EP, Homosapien available through Quote Unquote Records, which is a great label, all of its releases are donation based. So you can download the ep immediately for whatever price you think it's worth and then order the 7" as well.

I learned about Pete Seeger's classic "Waist Deep In the Big Muddy" just this week actually, and in class to boot. It's a great haunting song and it's actually one of the reasons that the Smother Brothers Comedy Hour was cancelled in 1969. Damn those government critics for not pandering to CBS's demands.

For the second year in a row here at Left of the Dial we celebrate the best weekend in punk rock, The Fest 8 in Gainesville, FL. With far too many bands to see in one weekend alone I picked my favorites of those I was lucky enough to witness. Some were new (No Friends, Comadre, Iron Chic), some were old (7 Seconds, American Steel) and some were reunited (Small Brown Bike, Planes Mistaken For Stars (quasi-reunited)).

There have been plenty of videos floating around the internet since that weekend so I'll post the highlights. One of the things I missed most this year was Paint It Black. Since Dr. Dan was due to have a new baby that weekend they weren't around to put on any crazy surprises but Comadre did their best to fill that spot. Friday night they played a house show with 5 or 6 Refused covers making up their set. My friends and I drove around fruitlessly trying to find the house but luckily enough the next night we saw them end their Fail Safe Warehouse show with "Deadly Rhythm" from The Shape of Punk to Come. Here's footage from Friday night:

During Gared O'Donnell's Hawks and Doves set (their first as a full band) the former members of Planes Mistaken for Stars (who were present in the new band Git Some) got on stage together for the first time in a few years to play three songs for those lucky enough to be at the Atlantic that night.

Possibly my favorite set of the weekend was 7 Seconds. They brought everything they had and for guys who are almost 50 years old, they outperformed almost every other band I saw. My only complaint was not seeing enough girls in the pit for "Not Just Boys' Fun." They ended the set with Sham 69's "If the Kids Are United" and encored with their classic version of Nena's "99 Red Balloons." So add those to the list of cover songs of the weekend that also included:Iron Chic - "She" (Green Day)No Friends - some Dag Nasty songDefiance, Ohio - some Victoria Williams songShook Ones - "Tired of Sex" (Weezer)

I'll leave you on an inspiring note, Small Brown Bike played a cathartic, celebratory reunion set on Friday night that included lots of favorites like "See You In Hell" which featured an appearance by The Casket Lottery/Coalesce's Nathan Ellis on backup vocals.

Keep checking www.nationalunderground.org for more videos from the Fest and check out No Idea Records if you want to but records from a lot of the bands featured here.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The first show of the semester had some glitches, but I got through it eventually. Our modern radio station does not have turntables so for the first time in Left of the Dial history, I brought my own. I have lots of 7" singles I wanted to play and have never bothered to hunt down digital copies. Luckily, I was able to get most of them from various internet sources to include in the streaming playlist and downloadable folder. Since imeem doesn't always cooperate with full-length songs I'm going to start offering each episode as a digital mixtape available for free!So if you want (almost) every song to put on your iPod or burn to a disc, download the .zip folder here (If you are in one of the bands played on the show and would like me to remove your track please let me know).

The Razzle track ("Chuck") and The Karloffs track ("Don't Want You") can be heard at their respective myspace pages.

Also, since Sirena Discos was nice enough to send me both the Razzle and Black Skies singles, I'll plug them too! Both are still in print, so buy them if you like them.

Since I ended the show with a track from Lowbrow's fairly new 7" Broken Speech (available here), check out this goofy music video they made for one of their other tracks. You gotta love a band with a sense of humor.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned the Small Brown Bike reunion, but if my mind is failing, they're playing The Fest 8! I'm so excited. The National Underground has video and mp3 downloads of their Fest 6 performance, definitely worth watching.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Since LotD isn't on the air during the summer there's no blogging going on, but just in case you're here anyway, we'll be back in the fall, August or September, depending on the show renewal process. We'll also probably be moving to a different night, more details to come.

The imeem music player seems to have started sucking, so come fall I'll find something better. Until then enjoy the 30 second snippets of each song from each previous show (some songs are still full length though).

Some of the venue links have been updated to reflect changes around Boone and Greensboro. Maya Art Gallery hosted the band Punch from SF tonight and it was the best hardcore show I've seen in years. I played them on the show at least once and you should listen to them some more. Right now. Go.